How to Coach Yourself and Others Techniques For Coaching | Page 59

listener. A better sequence of statements would be: “I got confused in your presentation to the grantee. I was not clear what the presentation was meant to accomplish. A statement about that at the beginning would have helped us all focus on the information you presented.” 3. Be direct, clear, and to the point. In many cultures, it is considered more polite and educated to not be direct. But in the case of feedback, since the objective is to communicate clearly and specifically, and not leave someone guessing, we encourage people to be direct but in polite way. 4. Direct feedback toward controllable behavior. Inquire before critiquing. If an employee is continually late to work, perhaps s/he has a childcare situation that causes this. Discussing the cause and the alternatives to meet everyone’s expectations and needs would be a more constructive approach than simply criticizing the employee’s behavior. Avoid criticizing a participant’s physical characteristics. To say, “You are too short to be seen in the back of the room,” without giving or exploring with him/her some suggestions (about room arrangement, for example), is not very helpful. 5. Feedback should be solicited, rather than imposed. If a collaborative work environment is present with employees or volunteers, feedback should be expected and welcomed. It should include positive feedback on good performance to reinforce what is being done correctly or better. Feedback that helps improve performance is critical 367